An imaginative retelling of Catherine the Great's improbable rise to power--as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.

Traces the remarkable history of Catherine the Great's influential art collection and creation of the Hermitage, discussing how her cultural goals were part of a long-term plan to modernize and westernize Russia.

A portrait of the eighteenth-century Russian empress documents her rise from a little-known German princess to become one of Europe's most celebrated monarchs, in an account that offers insight into her public and private achievements.

Chronicles the life of eighteenth-century Russian empress Catherine the Great, covering such aspects as her difficult early years of marriage, her fierce ambition, and the political intrigue that shaped her reign.

"A killer virus ... an all-powerful Empress ... an encounter cloaked in secrecy. Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the eighteenth century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation. But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments...

After receiving her PhD in biology, Raven lived in an isolated cottage in Montana, teaching remotely and leading field classes in Yellowstone National Park. Her only regular visitor was a fox, with whom she developed a friendship and from whom she learned about growth, loss, and belonging. When Raven finished her PhD in biology she built a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. Emotionally isolated as much as physically, she viewed...

"The riveting story of a mother who is separated from her newborn son and husband when committed to an involuntary psychiatric ward in New Jersey after a harrowing bout of postpartum psychosis"--

In 12th Century France, Catherine LaVendeur, the novice nun, is sent on an undercover mission by Mother Heloise, the abbess of the convent. She has to find the killer of a wealthy noblewoman. In this, Catherine is ably aided by her fiance, Edgar, a student of the monk, Peter Abelard. By the author of Death Comes As Epiphany.